Campaign literature from the Wisconsin Prohibition Party

Prohibition party campaign literature.

Although the temperance movement had been active in the United States since the early 19th century, temperance leaders did not establish a separate political party to campaign for prohibition until 1867. The party (still in existence today) sought to attain the legislative prohibition of the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol. Typical party platforms also included woman suffrage, free public education, prison reform, and the prohibition of gambling. Support for the party remained small nationally although Prohibition candidates made sizable gains in some state elections in the 1880s. These documents date primarily from elections in the 1870s and 1880s.